Tag Archives: Achieving Innovation

The annual cycle of introspection and planning is upon us. But only 8% of us will actually achieve our New Year resolutions and the organizations we work for will not fare much better. Common reasons for failure include unrealistic goals, not tracking progress and simply neglecting the commitment altogether. Innovation is top of mind for most organizations and executives. But ...

Singing is one of those skills that is difficult to evaluate in ourselves. We rely on feedback from others to determine how we’re doing. (Think of American Idol.) The personal capacity to innovate is a lot like that. It’s difficult to gain an accurate sense of our own creativity or analytical skills or insight. How often have you seen people either discount their creativity or exaggerate it? It’s quite common…and not just in singing competitions.

Niccolo Machiavelli wrote, “There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things.” He was talking about politics and government but it applies equally well to any new venture. It is the universal experience of everyone who has ever tried: It’s not going to go exactly like you think it will. You will have to make adjustments.